Rohit, Raina dismiss short-ball weakness

Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina have said they are comfortable facing the short ball. Raina and Sharma were two of the batsmen most prominently discomfited by bouncers during India's lacklustre World Twenty20 campaign in June.

India were among the favourites for the tournament held in England, but their highly rated batting line-up came unstuck against a barrage of bouncers, losing all three matches in the Super Eights stage.

Rohit flopped when used as a makeshift opener, dismissed attempting the pull in the crucial games against West Indies and England, after a great run in the IPL. "The pull is my favourite shot. You can't judge us based on a couple of matches," he said. "In fact, I was doing well in South Africa (in the IPL) against the short ball. I know we didn't do well in the World T20, but that happens."

Suresh Raina, whose weakness against the short stuff has been exposed before, also maintained that too much shouldn't be read into the defeats.

"It is unfair to judge based on our performance in a couple of games," he said. "Both Rohit and I have handled short balls well in the past and we have hit them out of the ground as well. World T20 was a bad experience, but if you have any doubts about my handling of the short ball, you will get the answer soon."

Raina missed the short tour of the Caribbean after the World Twenty20 due to a thumb injury but has recovered and is in the one-day squad for the upcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka. Rohit was in the side that played the West Indies, but made only 15 runs in three innings and has been dropped.

"It's very disappointing to lose your place in the side, but these things happen in cricket," he said. "There are many senior cricketers who have advised me to come out of that feeling quickly. There is a lot of domestic cricket lined up and I will work hard to come back into the national side. My immediate task is to get fit and there are a lots of things to work upon."